Casein paster gate improvements



March 22, 1960 G. DEARSLEY CASEIN FASTER GATE IMPROVEMENTS Filed June 27. 1957 FIG.2

FIGJ

INVENTOR. GEORGE DEARSLEY ATTORNEY Unite States CASElN PASTER GATE IMPROVEMENTS Application June 27, 1957, Serial No. 668,562 6 Claims. c1. ills-2st This invention relates to an improved casein paster gate.

The well known casein paster currently in use in the cigarette manufacturing industry consists ofv a paste wheel, known as a marble wheel, rotating in a supply of paste, the periphery of that wheel being scraped by a scraper. That scraper has a narrow slot to provide for the entrance of a stream of paste to be carried toward a paste transfer wheel, which in turn applies the paste to an endless cigarette paper web.

The amount of paste permitted to issue through the narrow slot is adjustable by means of a vertically ad- .justable slide that operates as a gate allowing the correct amount of paste to fiow therethrough.

The width of the slot is usually .04 inch wide and the adjustable height, generally between .02 and .03 inch, so that the opening through which the paste fiows is quite small and subject to becoming choked by lumps of paste or other foreign matter that may accumulate in the paste.

The method currently used to clean the opening entails the use of a small diameter wire to poke through and clean the slot. Since such a wire is relatively large with regard to the. slot, it almost completely blocks the paste orifice, thereby preventing the flow of paste during cleaning periods. s

The cigarette rod, not having received any paste during that slight interval, breaks out or opens at the seam, entailing a loss in production as a result thereof.

Continual poking at such a small hole eventually alters its dimensions, resulting in a paste head of a shape other than the optimum.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a slot cleaning device that is readily available to the operator, a part of the machine, and one that cannot be misplaced.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved paster gate device that will enable the operator to use it instantly without loss of operating time.

Another object is to provide a paster gate cleaning device operable at all times within the paster slot and one that will not vary the dimensions of that slot as a result of its continued use.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear as the description of the particular physical embodiment selected to illustrate the invention progresses. accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, like characters of reference have been applied to corresponding parts throughout the several views which make up the drawings.

Fig. 1 represents a sectional side view of the invention.

Fig. 2 represents a partial front view showing the relation between the scraper and the marble Wheel.

Fig. 3 is a partial perspective view of the scraper and slot.

Fig. 4 represents a perspective view of the vertically adjustable slide or gate with an integrally attached cleanin: tongue.

In the,

2,929,352 Patented Mar. 15960 In the apparatus employedv to illustrate the invention, applicants device may be used inconjunction with a cigarette machine paster of the type shown in the Warren patent, U.S. Patent No. 2,351,565. I

In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, I have shown my invention in operative position adjacent to the periphery of a conventional paster wheel 12, its lower portion immersed in paste 14.

The device consists of a rigidly secured housing 10 which serves as a paste container having avertical end portion adjacent to whicha suitably shaped vertically adjustable gate 16 is positioned. The adjustable gate 16,

at or near its lower end portion, has a lateral tongue-like on its uppermost portion a fixedly mounted knob 28. A

compression spring 32 is positioned on the stud 26 be tween the lower face of said knob 28 and the upper face of an inverted cup shaped stop member 30 to urge the gate 16 and knob 28 upwardly. The stud 26 is provided with a suitable flange 34 for the purpose of engaging with the stop member 30, thereby limitingthe distance said gate 16 can travel upwardly.

The operation of the invention may briefly be described as follows: V

The paste wheel 12, partially immersed in paste 14, is rotated'in the direction of the arrow. In so rotating, the paste 14 adheres to the wheel 12 and is raised to the point on its periphery where it comes into contact with a scraper 22, having a centralslot 20, which rides in contact with the wheel 12. The scraper 22 removes excess paste 14 from the wheel 12 at its contact point with the wheel 12. The slot 2i), however, permits a narrow bead 38 of paste to continue traveling with the wheel 12 to a conventional transfer wheel (not shown) which applies the paste 14 to an endless-cigarette web (not shown) in a manner well known in the art.

The amount of paste permitted to issue in the bead 38 is controlled by turning the knob 28 which, by means of the screw 26, adjusts the height of the sliding gate 16 to vary the cross-sectional area of the orifice through Evhich the paste flows thereby varying the amount of The paste 14- that was scraped from the paste wheel 32, tends to accumulate at the upstream side of the scraper, thereby clogging the paste slot 20. v

When the paste slot 24 becomes choked by lamps of paste or other foreign matter, a quick punch on the knob 28 causes the tongue 18 on the adjustable gate 16 to momentarily pass downwardly the slot 20 to crush any obstruction against the moving wheel 12, thus clearing the slot Zii. Since this clearing action requires a fraction of a second, the paste bead flow 38 is not interrupted sufficiently to cause the cigarette rod (not shown) to break out, because the adjustable gate 16 immediately returns to its original position by reason of the spring 32, leaving the pre-selected adjustment which controls the paste tlow unaltered. Higher production efliciency is thereby obtained.

As used in the manner above described, the dimensions of the slot 20 are not subject'to wear by this opera tion and the cigarette machine operator does not have to keep small pieces of wire about the machine for clean:

ing purposes, thus contributing to the over-all efliciency of the apparatus.

Fig. 2 shows the scraper22 in operative position on the periphery of the paste wheel 12. The tongue-portion 18 of the adjustable gate 16 is shown positioned within the slot 20 of the scraper 22.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that the apparatus herein provides for the efiicient removal of paste obstructions from a casein paster gate without interfering with the formation of a continuous seal of the cigarette rod.

The invention hereinabove described may be varied in construction within the scope of the claims, for the particular device selected to illustrate the invention is but one of. many possible embodiments of the same. The in-: vention, therefore, is not to be restricted to the precise details of the structure shown and described.

What is claimed is: a a

' 1. In a paster for a cigarettemaking machine comprising a paste reservoir, a wheel rotating in said reservoir, for picking up paste on its peripheral surface, a scraper having an edge riding in contact with said wheel for removing paste from the periphery thereof, said scraper having a slot formed in the edge riding in contact with said wheel for allowing a strip of paste to pass therethrough, and a flow adjusting gate moveable up and down in front of said slot for regulating the size of said slotted opening to thereby control the amount of paste passing through said slot, the improvement comprising an extension formed on said adjusting gate and extending into said slot and moveable up and down therein, the lower end of said adjusting gate and extension having a surface which has the same arcuate configuration as said wheel, means for regulating the distance said extension and adjusting gate is spaced from said wheel, and a manually operated member permitting said extension. and adjusting gate to be pushed downwardly against said .wheel to crush any paste which may clog said slot.

2. A device for cleaning out a casein scraper slot in a paster having a housing, an adjustable gate slidably attached to said housing, and a paste scraper vertically mounted adjacent to said adjustable gate, the improvement comprising a lateral tongue-like projection slidably operable within a paste slot located at the base of said paste scraper plate, a stud suitably attached to the upper end portion of said adjusting gate, a flanged stop member suitably attached to said stud membena fixedly mounted knob on the upper shank portion of said stud and a compression spring mounted on said stud between the lower face of said knob and the upper face of said flange memher to reposition the said gate and said tongue-like projection after it has been depressed.

*3. A device for cleaning out a casein scraper slot in a paster having a housing, and means for mounting an adjustable gate adjacent to said housing, the improvement comprising a suitable clean-out tongue attached to the adjustable gate, a single slotted paste scraper adjacent to said adjustable gate, a vertical flanged stud mounted through the upper end of said adjustable gate, a knob to depress said adjustable gate and clean-out tongue, and means for returning said knob together with the adjustable gate and clean-out tongue to its predepressed position.

4. A device for cleaning out a casein scraper slot in a paster having a housing, a vertical gate reciprocably mounted on said housing, and a paste scraper having a central narrowslot at its lower end and maintaining contact with a marble paste wheel,"the improvement comprising a lateral projection slidably operable within a paste slot, a stud suitably attached to the upper portion of said vertical gate, a knob on the upper shank portion of said stud, a suitable stop member attached to said stud, and a'cornpression spring mounted on said studand under said knob.

5. A device for cleaning out a casein'scraper slot in a paster having a housing, an adjustable gateslidably attached to said housing; and a paste. scraper mounted adjacent to said adjustablegate, the improvement comprising a projection located at the base of said adjustable gate and operable within a paste slot located at the base of said paste scraper, a stud suitably attached to the upper end portion of said adjustable gate, a flanged stop member positioned between the upper end portion of the adjustable gate and the lower face of an adjusting knob, and means to depress and resetsaid adjusting knob.

6. A device for cleaning out a casein scraper slot comprising an adjustable gate having a protruding tongue at its lower end portion, a paste scraper having a slotted end portion to accommodate said protruding tongue, a flanged stud suitably attached to the upper end portion of said adjustable gate, and means to depress and reset said stud.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

